The Last Moment
by Koukotsu
Summary: Kai's gone insane, the team is falling apart and it's all before the tournament. Kai's betrayal has left them stunned and broken, it could only be a matter of time before the Blade Breakers fall apart... [Ch.5 UP.]
1. Drifting

**DISCLAIMER: **BeyBlade is © copyright Aoki Takao and Bandai.

**NOTE: **If you don't like it, don't read it. This continues off from G-Revolution, rated PG-13 for minor violence and blood.

**The Last Moment**

**by Koukotsu (JDM)**

**Chapter One: **Drifting

_The blade rolled from his hand before landing on the hard concrete, the dark blue blade upon hitting the stone floor began cracking before shattering into millions of tiny pieces across the floor, Dranzer was gone. Kai remains against the stone wall motionless, trying everything to catch his breath, Brooklyn and BEGA had become so much stronger than he remembered, he saw his friends faces flash before him as he staggered down this long winding hall. Tyson was due to battle Brooklyn in the tournament, his body was scratched up with a few hints of blood running down his skin, the Blitzkrieg Boys had fallen before they ever had a chance to stand up._

_His tag team partner - Tala was in the hospital after the loss when he battled. He heaved in a breath but it was ragged and hollow, as if he had to struggle to breathe, he felt like his heart was collapsing and his eyes sank shut before his body went completely motionless._

_Somewhere in the hospital, Tala laid in the hospital bed, his eyes shut as a lone tear escaped down his face._

--

_"TYSON!"_

Kai was jolted awake by the sudden yelling heard in the other room, his white scarf was pulled tight around his throat and he heaved a small sigh, he had been remembering the tournament from months ago. Tyson had indeed defeated Brooklyn however that was beside the point, he stared ahead into the shadows of the room, his head pounding. He had completely forgot what it had been like to be free. He regains his emotionless posture and swings his legs over the bed, he was at the hotel with the Blade Breakers, ever since the events of the tournament things had went unbearably quiet.

_SMASH._

Kai winced slightly at the sound of glass shattering on the floor, he had no idea what was going on and personally intended to find out. He quickly and quietly slipped from the bedroom towards the main room, the vase laid shattered on the floor as Hilary stared at the two boys standing before her. Tyson and Daichi had gotten into another argument, Daichi scowled, "You were the one who broke it!" Tyson shook his head, hand curling into a fist, "No it was YOU!"

The bickering was giving everyone a headache, "Well lets just make it easier and say you both broke it." Hilary cut in, frustrated as Kai stepped into the room and passed by, Rei looked up to see the loner passing towards the door, "Hey Kai," Rei greeted, the appearance of the Hiwatari caused everyone to look his direction. Kai mentally scowls, he didn't intend on speaking to his team right now, the headache was there and the memory was still fresh in his mind. "Well I see your awake." Rei finished knowing how Kai was. Kai was silently thankful that he wasn't expected to answer and pulled the door open before stepping out onto the balcony.

Down from the balcony was a set of stairs that ran down towards the parking lot.

As the door slammed shut, Hilary turned to Daichi and Tyson who were continuing to bicker until finally muttering out, "I'm surrounded by idiots..." and crossed back across the room and sat down next to Kenny who was typing in his laptop. Rei shook his head, "You know, if you broke it, you'll have to pay for it." that comment right there caused the two boys to go silent, Hilary heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well it was Daichi who broke it," Tyson finally piped up breaking the silence as Daichi stormed up, "No, Tyson broke it!" the rest of the team emitted a groan in unison as the boys were right back where they started. "I don't know who started it, but one of you is going to have to pay for it." the unfamiliar voice caused everyone in the room to whirl around, standing in the now open door way was one of the maids, in her arms were some clean towels as her dull green eyes shift to the broken pieces of glass on the floor.

"He started it!" both boys shouted in unison pointing fingers at each other.

--

The wind whistles past him as he steps down the stairs and onto the side walk, Kai inhales the air feeling a little less dizzy and choked, his headache was fading slightly, the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees was heard as well as the sound of birds chirping, it always brought back memories to him, but the memories were distant now. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" Kai's crimson eyes turn to see that of the BBA Chairman, Mr. Dickenson standing before him with his usual smile, his small black eyes shining with their usual laughter, Kai nodded.

"Wheres the rest of your team?" Mr. Dickenson asked, cocking his head to the side while lightly tapping his cane against the concrete, however his question was answered when a loud yell was heard from the hotel room.

"YOU BROKE IT SO YOUR PAYING FOR IT!" the shout was that of a woman heard echoing through the air as Tyson tore out of the hotel room and leaped up onto the railing, the maid ran out with a look of total frustration and distaste on her face. "It was the runt who broke it," Tyson remarked gesturing to the hot headed kid that stood in the hotel room. "No, it was the doofus!" Daichi shouted, Tyson made a face at him causing his temper to rise.

Daichi flew from the room almost literally, his legs were moving so fast as he ran straight towards the railing but halted when Tyson heaved a dry laugh going "You'll never catch me," and leaped from the railing. Mr. Dickenson watched with some amusement as Kai groaned, this was just another typical day with his team. Tyson landed down in the bushes roughly before running out into the parking lot, leaves stuck in his hat. Kai had taken notice but said nothing.

"Well someone has to pay," the maid turned to the remaining team, Rei finally sighed and stood up withdrawing some money from his pocket and handed it to the maid. "We apologize." was all he said and the maid nodded, dropped the bath towels into the chair and left, the entire thing had disrupted her train of thought and she had pretty much forgotten why she had brought the towels in the first place.

Mr. Dickenson chuckled and turned to where the Hiwatari was supposed to be standing, "There's never a dull moment, is there Kai-" Kai was gone.

--

"Go Draciel!" Max shouted as he launched his blade towards the tree, he had left earlier to test out his new and improved blade, the heavy green blade tore through the dirt like a knife and smacked into the tree knocking a dent into it. Max smiled, Draciel's attack and defense had both been upped since the previous tournament. He heard the leaves rustling behind him before the sound of the fallen leaves on the ground crunching, he turned around to see Kai walking down the narrow path, head lowered and expression unreadable, Max's blue eyes brightened just a little.

"Hey Kai!" Kai looked up at Max who quickly grabbed Draciel out of the grass and ran to him, "Did you hear?" but only received silence, Kai was obviously not in a good mood today. "There's going to be a tournament in Mexico,"

Kai felt his blood turn to ice just a little bit, it made him feel numb or more numb anyway, this wouldn't be like the other tournaments, at least not without Dranzer. He kept silent as Max kept the smile on his face "Well I guess you want to be alone."

Max turns away and goes back to testing out his blade as Kai mutters a "Yeah...Alone..." under his breath and walks on down the path, he missed the phoenix he used in so many battles, he felt like this was just another one of his darker days, that Dranzer wasn't really gone.

_Dranzer..._

He shook off the weak feelings and continued on, after a few minutes he looked up seeing he had walked deep into the forest, he was surrounded by trees and barren land, he just kept silent and glanced around. He didn't know how this would go over in Mexico's tournament, the sound of a twig snapping caused him to jerk his head to the side, crimson eyes narrowing.

A black blade with red ridges flew out of the canopy of trees and landed at his feet spinning, he stared down at it as it slowly stopped spinning revealing the bit chip of a black phoenix on top, he felt his heart thumping and blood running cold again as he reached down, he remembered this blade, he heard footsteps and quickly glanced up to see a figure cloaked in a black cloak walking away into the trees before disappearing.

He held the cold metal in his hand, he remembered everything - This was the same bit beast that had corrupted him when he and his team went to Russia, the same bit beast that destroyed the memories of his child hood. The bitbeast that was...

_Black Dranzer._

--

**To be continued...**


	2. Back To Hell Again

**Chapter Two: **Back To Hell Again

They were laughing. Not the cold, mocking laughter that often haunted his thoughts, but a real laughter - one that left a bitter sweet sting in the air around him as the sound of smiles exploded within each burst of air.

He wasn't laughing though.

They were smiling and not the fake smiles he was accustomed to when they didn't want to face another training session. No, these smiles were genuine.

He wasn't smiling though.

The joy in the air chokes him, he sinks down into his seat - his lone seat of the bus in the shadows away from his team, his team seemed excited about going to Mexico for this tournament, he feels sick in the pit of his stomach as he gradually opens his hand and peers down at black with red ridged blade that was nestled into the palm of his hand, Black Dranzer. He feels a pang of guilt but ignores it, if this was the only way that the team could continue winning in these championships then he would do anything he could to keep it that way.

No one was aware of the traitor that was among them, the one that would betray them all. And that he, Kai Hiwatari would become their enemy when it came time for the tournament. As much as he wanted to keep the team as winners in the championships, he still felt that burning greed in his gut, the same greed that his hated grandfather had felt. Black Dranzer was doing this to him, but he had once had a bout with the bit beast before and the results were not pretty. He had almost lost his mind that time until Tyson and the others snapped him back to reality, but this time he knew that it may not happen.

He feels sick knowing what he's going to do, the churning nausea is settling into his stomach. He hears footsteps approaching and quickly closes his hand over the blade, not letting anyone see it. "Hey Kai," Tyson grinned as he held out some dango in his hand. "Mr. Dickenson packed this for us,"

Kai nodded slowly and took the dango from Tyson's hand who turned his back and walked away, Kai only bit into the japanese dumpling feeling the churning nausea again and this time accompanied by a sour taste, the nausea is becoming over whelming even for him, the japanese dumplings fall from his hand as he feels the food rising up in his throat again, cold glass reflects his distorted reflection, behind his reflection is a silhouette of a black bird with glowing red eyes, it's cruel and menacing voice echoes through his head. _"Welcome to hell, Kai..."_

Kai's body convulsed as his body bent over uncontrollably a few moments before throwing up.

--

Emerald green eyes watched the bus pull around the rocky corner of the mountain side, balancing on the tree branch as to not fall off, Joseph watches as the bus pulls on around and disappears from view. The youngest of the Saint Shields team remains intact on the narrow tree branch before hearing the bushes nearby rattle, Mariam stepped out pulling the leaves out of her blue hair, she scowled as her green eyes, once holding intense amusement had darkened. "Ozuma and his missions..." Mariam mumbled, just when they thought the captain had given up sealing away the sacred bit beasts, he had come back at it again.

"Well, we have to listen and plus why give up on something we live to do." Joseph inquired as he jumped down from the branch and landed on the rocky trail, Mariam shook her hair, blue hair swishing back and forth nonchalantly. "Whatever, are you hungry?" Mariam asked setting down a brown bag, Joseph groaned, "Why did you pick now to have a snack?" Mariam shrugs pulling an apple from the bag. "What? I was hungry." Joseph shook his head but both siblings' attention jolted up as the sound of screams were heard, Mariam and Joseph only flashed each other quick glances before running towards the edge of the mountain.

Upon arriving there, they saw a small child clinging to the side of the mountain, tears pouring down his face, the bus had stopped a few miles ahead next to something, Joseph scowled slightly "You go and see what's going on with the bus, I'll help the kid..." Mariam nodded and ran off towards the bus, the child uttered a short lived whimper as his fingernails were scraping against the stone surface, his body edging down only a little as small pebbles fell and clacked against the mountain, Joseph quickly hopped onto a tree branch that was low enough that he could possibly reach the child in time.

Mariam jogged up to the bright red bus, "Man... someone can see this thing from miles away..." she mused and cracked a small smirk as if she had stated the funniest joke known to man, she reached the doors just as the mechanical doors slid open, Tyson was coming down the steps and saw the female member of the Saint Shields team. "Mariam...?" he asked confused, Mariam furrowed her brows in frustration, it was the Blade Breakers, she should of known. "What's happening?" Mariam asked trying to look past the beyblader but to no luck. Tyson shrugged it off.

"Kai had a little bit of an er...accident..." feeling nausea from what had happened, however Kai was not even in the bus now, as soon as it halted to a stop he had run out of the bus and disappeared.

"Oh." Mariam shook her head, just before hearing another ear splitting scream, Mariam and Tyson ran back towards the edge of the mountain, the others must of heard it as they emerged from the bus and followed.

Joseph grabbed hold of the child and pulled him to safety, the rocks were crumbling faster and faster down the side of the mountain before Joseph pulled the child onto the top and over the ledge. "Are you okay?" Rei asked, out of breath from having to catch up with Tyson and Mariam, still not knowing what was going on himself. The child nodded, he was shaking and his skin was white as paper.

"What happened?" Joseph asked, the child was shaking violently as he managed to stutter out "H-H-He p-p-pushed m-m-me..." Joseph blinked slowly, a bit worried in his own way, "Who pushed you?"

The child's eyes rose to see a familiar figure in the distance and let out a shrill cry of "H-H-Him!"

The group whirled around to see Kai standing near the bus, his eyes held a weird reddish glow to them but his normal eye color and pupils were still present, Tyson's jaw fell agape with shock as the others stood there in a stunned silence.

"K-Kai!?"

--

_"What has gotten into me?"_

Kai wonders as he sinks into his seat, he still feels the burning and questioning stares of his teammates, they had wanted to know what was going on, what he had done... he wasn't himself earlier. It was almost as if the burning greed had grown stronger and forced him to push that child off the side of the mountain, his team didn't know what had gotten into him either nor did they know about his recent acquiring of the Black Dranzer either. And in truth he didn't understand it himself, he feels the headache coming back, rain is now pattering against the cold glass.

It had begun raining an hour earlier, though he felt it was because of his dark deed, he had nearly killed a child. He groaned and sunk back into his seat, not caring despite the sound of foot steps approaching was there in front of him. "What's wrong, Kai?"

Rei asked, the neko-jin stood before the Hiwatari, gold eyes reflecting concern rather than bitter rage for his teammate, sure what had happened had shocked them all, but there was something behind this, something that was bothering Kai. Kai's crimson eyes sunk shut for a few moments, the rain was like a lullaby to him, his eyes eased open and his gaze met that of Rei's.

"Nothing." was all Kai said and he turned over feeling his eyes sink shut once again, losing grasp on his on reality.

--

"Something isn't right here," Ozuma mumbled as he paced back and forth inside the shelter in the village of China, the rest of his team remained settled in their seats watching their captain pace, Joseph had explained everything to the captain. "What do you think it could of been?" Mariam asked quietly, Dunga was silent which seemed unusual for him but then again he didn't even seem to be paying much attention or concern to the whole deal. Ozuma shook his head, green eyes narrowed as he continued to pace, despite the chill outside from the falling rain he didn't even seem effected.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Ozuma muttered, Mariam blinked before muttering "How?", Joseph was intent on this as he was always up for some kind of spy-like mission, it was just his nature. "We're going to Mexico." was all Ozuma said before turning and leaving the main room, Dunga broke from his momentary daze for a few moments clicking his tongue against his teeth. "Why can't we just sleep?" Dunga asked, his hot temper hadn't set in yet as Mariam grinned, this was definitely a moment of jabbing that she couldn't pass up even if she wanted to.

"Well for one, you'd be asleep all year because your just like a bear." Mariam sniggered as Dunga's temper fired up, "HEY!" he shouted before grabbing a nearby basket off the floor and throwing it with all his might, Mariam ran out of the way cackling as Joseph sat there almost oblivious to the antics going on around him. The events of earlier were still fresh in his memory, the way that Kai was not the same and the way that something was just off.

_"But what could it be?" _Joseph thought numbly.

--

_His body slipped towards the darkness, he tries to scream but it's like his throat collapsed, no sound emits as he's drawn deeper into the darkness, the black phoenix with glowing red eyes is before him, it's red eyes gleaming cruelly in the darkness. "Welcome to hell, Kai..." the phoenix repeated as it had earlier, it cackled insanely as Kai grabbed at what he could but the darkness was too strong._

_He was being dragged under, he felt like he was drowning, his body convulses, shaking. "N-No... this has to be a dream..." Kai uttered out, shaking violently as the wave of darkness crashed over him, it was like a thick, cold black liquid that swallowed him, it was choking him, killing him. The phoenix cackled sadistically once more, black feathers fluttering around Kai, above him is dark, grey stormy and cloudy skies._

_"This is not a dream, Kai, this is reality!" another sadistic cackle and Kai lets out a terrified scream as his body submerges under the darkness, the wind had picked up and became like that of a whirl wind, faster and stronger just like Brooklyn's bit beast, Zeus had unleashed during the battle. He felt his body submerging, and for a bleak moment, he thought he saw the firey phoenix in the sky._

_Dranzer._

_"Dranzer! Help me!" he screamed, with what strength he had he thrust his arm out of the cold, dark liquid reaching towards the firey phoenix, but before he can, Dranzer only fades away into the dark abyss._

_"Dranzer...no... Don't leave me!" Kai's final screams erupt from his throat as his body fully submerges under the dark liquid._

"Dranzer...help me..." Kai whispered, his body shaking violently as he tossed and turned in the seat, he was trapped in a nightmare, one that seemed inescapable, the voices seemed so far away to him.

"Kai!" Tyson shouted jarring the Hiwatari awake, Kai's crimson eyes shot open as he sat up, he felt the air rushing into his lungs as beads of cold sweat clung to his now pale face. "What was going on?" Tyson asked, worry in his voice, Kai shoved away it for a moment and regained his posture, his hand still closed over the blade so his team mate wouldn't see it. "It was nothing, Tyson." Kai snapped, Tyson rolled his eyes lifting his hands in a small bit of defeat.

"Alright, I was just trying to help. Sheesh, don't be such a sourpuss, Kai." and with that Tyson turned and headed back to his seat. Kai blinked wearily and stared out the rain streaked windows, had that really been a dream or something else? His head is pounding and there is no advil to be found, he scowls lightly feeling the sour taste invade his mouth once again, the dead feeling in his gut was back.

_"...All I can taste is the moment..."_

He thinks darkly watching the stormy weather outside, he knew the nightmare had to mean something and he prayed it was just a hunch.

_"...and it poisons me."_


	3. Crash And Burn

**Chapter Three: **Crash And Burn

The rain patters softly against cold glass, the sound of silverware hitting plates and bowls can be heard that morning, the florescent lights are the only source of light in this small building. Tyson finishes down his bacon, "Man, why do the diners always have the best food?" he digs his fork into the eggs, Hilary shakes her head before mumbling "Your always hungry, thats why." Tyson blinked, fork still in mouth before pulling it out, "I'm a growing boy, can you blame me?" he puts the fork back in, the sound of "You stopped growing on your sixteenth birthday!" was heard from Hilary, but it all seemed so far away from him.

Kai has not touched his breakfast, the oatmeal remained intact on the table, the raisins dotted the top of it like a pair of eyes and a smile, obviously the waitress had done this just to see the russian smile but had failed. Kai's crimson eyes trail to the rain streaked windows, the neon sign out a few feet in the parking lot was shorting out due to the cold rainfall, his crimson eyes seem so much more lifeless. He felt like he was drowning and he probably was, they had reached Louisiana and were going to be stopping by a hotel later, Mexico was still a few days if not weeks a way.

Mr. Dickenson was sipping at his coffee, suppressing a small chuckle, there was never a dull moment with this team. "The doofus is a giant already so of course he's going to eat!" Daichi piped up, his cereal remained in front of him, Tyson stopped eating long enough to cast the red head a very dangerous look, Daichi grins evilly, "Aw did I hurt your feelings?" he taunted before emitting a cackle, Tyson grabbed the cup of tea Rei had been drinking without much notice and flung it at Daichi, the cup hit Daichi upside the head, the cold liquid and ice got into his sleeveless blue shirt, Daichi's green eyes shot wide.

A scream was heard from inside the diner as Daichi fell from the booth screaming from the cold, trying to get the ice out of his shirt, his small body spinning across the floor gaining some odd looks from some of the people there. Hilary casted Tyson a very annoyed look as Tyson only shrugged it off and took a sip of his orange juice. Daichi rose up giving Tyson a very dirty look, "This isn't over."

Kai taps a finger against the table, tuning everyone out or at least trying to, his gaze was locked on the parking lot and for a moment he swore he saw that black cloaked figure standing out there, the figure was turned to him with hollow eyes staring out from under the hood, the stare pierced through Kai like a knife, paralyzing to a point, he felt chills going down his spine. "Hey Kai, why haven't you eaten?" Hilary's worried voice cut through his thoughts, he blinked and looked to Hilary for a moment and looked back to the window, the figure was gone.

"Hello, Earth to Kai, The witch of the eighth grade just asked you a question," Kai looked up again before shaking his head. "I'm not hungry," was all he said and stood up feeling the burning inside him again, he knew what it was but didn't say anything. "Kai, where are you going?" Hilary asked, about ready to stand up from her chair but only got the cold response of "Out." and Kai walked away, Hilary sunk back into her chair feeling a bit numb, sure Kai was cold, but he had never sounded that cold before, not to anyone except maybe his team when he first became captain.

"He just likes being alone," Rei said shrugging taking a sip of his iced tea, the waitress had brought out another glass. Hilary shook her head and turned back to look towards the glass double doors before turning to the rest of the team. "There was something strange about him," Hilary mused, Tyson grinned gulping down some orange juice. "So what? Everything is strange about that guy." He took his fork cutting into the stack of pancakes he order, Hilary shook her head, "I'm serious, there was a weird look in his eyes, as if he was hiding something that was dangerous..." Hilary mumbled, toying with a napkin.

"Hilary might be right," Max spoke up glancing towards the window. "The other day he seemed more distant than usual, I wonder what's up." Tyson finished swallowing some of his pancakes, "There's nothing up, He's just a sourpuss."

"How many orders are you going to eat? That was the sixth order of breakfast!" Hilary shouted only to get a grin from the beyblade champion, "Then bring on the seventh."

--

The is freezing and bitter, the rain is still falling fast, Kai had exited a few moments ago. His white scarf whips around him as the cold air nips at his exposed flesh, something was bothering him, crimson eyes dart around uneasily. That figure was out here a few minutes ago, he knew it, and he wanted answers. This had been going on ever since he first caught sight of the hooded person in that forest back in Japan, but he didn't know who it was. Black Dranzer was hidden in his pocket, none of his team was aware that the dark bit beast had even returned.

_"It's only a matter of time..."_

The dark and demonic voice echos in his head, he tries to ignore it but the headache is coming back as well as the over whelming dizziness. "No...I can't betray them..." he feels beads of sweat forming, half of him was fighting the fate that was to happen but was failing. _"You will betray them..."_

The dark voice was still there, his headache is growing worse, the pounding sensation is back. "No...I can't...I won't... I won't do it..." Kai feels his legs buckling, the sadistic cackle echos through his mind once more, Black Dranzer was doing this to him, he felt his physical strength draining rapidly as his body felt a hundred times heavier than before, the parking lot is spinning as his legs collapse out from under him onto the cold concrete. _"They'll never see it coming."_

The sadistic cackle echos through his head once more, he wants to fight it but he can't, he knew that it was against his nature to ever give into weakness, he had wanted perfection but it was never going to be any closer, Black Dranzer was created as perfect, the memories of the abbey are still in his mind, he had craved the perfection and now he had it in his hands, but his physical strength seemed to be draining quicker than before. "No...can't let this happen..." Kai whispers, his body convulses violently, almost like he was having seizures. He let out a hollow, choked scream into the cold air.

_"But it will Kai, you wanted perfection and now you got it!" _The sadistic cackle returns to his mind, Kai is unable to control the waves of nausea crashing through his system, the sour taste has returned again along with the urge to throw up, his vision is blurred by unshed tears, he didn't want to believe that he was becoming this weak, falling before a bit beast, he chokes feeling like he's drowning again, "No..." was the last thing uttered before his body stopped convulsing all together and collapsed fully onto the pavement, his chest is heaving slightly feeling his breathing growing ragged once more.

Just before everything faded to **black**.

--

"So, who is going to be at the tournament?" Tyson asked, wiping his mouth off with the napkin, he had went through ten orders of pancakes, bacon, eggs, oatmeal and everything else that could be eaten for breakfast. "Well from what I heard, the Majestics, Blitzkrieg Boys, Saint Shields, White Tigers, All Starz, BEGA and others will be participating in the tournament," Mr. Dickenson mused, remembering finding out about the tournament before hand. "Well I guess while we wait for Kai, it'll be time for a eleventh round," Tyson mused picking up the menu, Hilary heaved a sigh. "Don't you think you had enough?" Tyson shook his head before mumbling "Are you kidding me? This only the beginning."

Only to get a chorus of groans from his team. Kenny was typing away on his laptop, his expression hardening even to the point of showing some nervousness. "Hey, Chief, What did you find?" Tyson asked, Kenny frowned as he tapped one of the keys idly. "I don't know, but Dizzi is getting some negative readings, there's some kind of dark energy present." Kenny's voice was shaky, nervous, Rei looked slightly concerned. "What do you think it is?"

Tyson toyed with a napkin as if he was oblivious to all of this, "I don't know, but it smells like an adventure!" Tyson grinned tossing the crumpled napkin onto the table, Hilary grabbed his arm "Not now Tyson, we'll be late if you decide to go on some investigation." Rei nodded as Mr. Dickenson looked at his watch, Kai was still not back, however that wasn't unusual for the Hiwatari, it was just if he didn't show up soon, he'd end up left here or they wouldn't make it to the tournament on time. Max blinked hazily while sipping at his apple juice before catching sight of a lone being outside the rain streaked window.

"Hey, guys?" Max asked, voice softer than usual, the team looked in his direction. "Yeah, Max?" Tyson piped up, Daichi remained in his seat with arms crossed and scowl on his face. "Who is that?" Max asked, pointing a finger towards the being in the parking lot. The view of it was blurry but not enough to make out the shape of a human. "Wait a minute..." Rei mumbled leaning closer, golden eyes narrowed for a few moments before they shot open wide. "I know who that is..."

"Who?" the group asked, Rei's mouth fell slack before he turned to look at the rest of the team.

"Kai!"

--

_'Why did it start back now?'_

The black hood falls back and cold, violet eyes stare at the cold metal of a broken down car, Tala Valkov let out a low groan as he shifted his weight from leg to leg, he had no idea why he had come back to all of this. The ordeal with the abbey, Voltaire, Boris and everything else was dead, though for some unknown reason he had dropped the evil bit beast, Black Dranzer into Kai's possession once more. His team was still together but they had pretty much disappeared from the media, and the beyblading world it seemed, he stays silent for a moment.

_"Black Dranzer told me to do this, so why do I feel so... guilty?" _Tala mumbles and shudders at the final word, he usually didn't even know the meaning of that word, but for some reason that feeling was there, yes he was ruining someone's life and yes he was breaking up the team one way or another but he failed to understand why he was doing it but part of him felt the need to harm and cause pain, it could of easily been a result of the abbey, very easily. "Argh... why can't I get this feeling out of me!?"

He slams his foot against the tire, pain shoots through his leg but he ignores it, the car creaks eeriely and falls straight onto the ground, the rickety old thing was nothing but junk anyway. He hears the sound of thunder in the sky and scowls, along with voices. _Voices..._

He recognized them, the Blade Breakers, but where were the voices coming from? He quickly ran to the bushes and peered past them hidden, he could see them running towards the fallen Kai that laid motionless in the parking lot. He knew what had caused it and now that same feeling was back again. _"Lord, forgive me..."_

He thought bitterly before pulling up his hood again and ran off into the ever growing fog.

--

_"Kai? KAI!"_

His head is pounding and he groans, shifting slightly, crimson eyes open to reveal a blurred vision of his team and the BBA chairman, Mr. Dickenson standing over him, the rain is still falling. "Kai are you alright!?"

Hilary.

Kai coughs and sits up, vision clearing, no one had noticed the blade clasped in his hand. "What happened?" Hilary asked, worry in her ruby eyes as Kai blinked hazily, unable to focus on anything but the pounding of his head, the voices seem so much farther away than before, he still hears the cold, mocking words in his head.

_'You will betray them...'_

The churning nausea is back, "Yeah, I'm fine." Kai snaps, Hilary nods a little weary as his team looks a little relieved except for Daichi who was shooting very dangerous looks to Tyson. "Well we better get going and get a hotel before lunch," Mr. Dickenson looks at his watch and gestures for the bus.

As everyone starts to walk away, Kai stands up and only stands there for a bleak moment, before Tyson turned back to him. "Hurry up, Kai! We don't need a wet dog smell in the bus!" and Tyson cracked a grin at his own joke before speeding towards the bus, Kai would normally say something but didn't, all he could feel was the pounding headache and the nausea.

_"This'll probably be the last time I get to spend with my team..."_

Kai thought numbly and walked off towards the bus.


	4. Looking Sick

**NOTE: **As a fair warning to the readers, if you are sensitive to violence or in specific, animal abuse - I'd hit the back button now. This chapter contains some graphic animal abuse. Anyways for those of you who wish to read on, here's Chapter Four...

**Chapter Four: **Looking Sick

The grey clouds hung over the city of San Antonio, Texas, they had been on the edge of Louisiana when they left and had arrived at the hotel. Crimson eyes watch the foggy skies, it had been raining ever since they got there and that was the first time that day it had let up. As soon as they had reached the hotel and got settled in, he left as he usually did, without much word to his team or the BBA Chairman. The headache is still there and hasn't eased, he was silently hoping the 'fresh' air would ease the headache, the tournament was only a couple days a way and it was bothering him.

_'Only a matter of time...'_

The thought runs through his head bitterly as he stuffs his hands into his pants pocket, he is contemplating on rather to go back or not and starts to turn when something catches his eye, he stops. A pair of gleaming eyes watch him from the alley way he was standing next to, whatever owned the eyes was hidden behind the dumpster. Kai blinked hazily, feeling as if he was hallucinating when the eyes disappeared into the shadows before a little head popped out from around the dumpster, golden brown eyes watching him. There was nothing quite so captivating as a puppy.

The small animal looked up at Kai, it's body was abnormally skinny from the lack of food. It's owners probably treated it worse than anything, that was, if it even had an owner. Kai had to smile slightly, the animal was keeping him sane a little bit, but not enough. Never enough. The puppy's tail timidly wags and it wobbles up to Kai. Kai pats the mud-caked fur on top of it's head, a mistake. Kai turned and walked on, his white scarf billowing behind him. The puppy whined and wobbled after him, tail wagging. Kai felt the headache coming back, his temper rising a little.

"Stay." He snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh, the puppy stared at him and cocked it's head to the side, it's once wagging tail drooped. Kai shook it off and headed on down the road, wanting to forget about the animal, he knew he had to. He couldn't take it back, there was no way to take care of it. Though part of him wanted to take the animal in, he knew it couldn't happen, He and his team was traveling and there was just no way to take care of another living being. A small pang of guilt is nagging at him, but he tries to ignore it. He can't let this get in the way now.

The wind seems to pick up a bit faster, the sound of yipping is heard and the puppy he was so desperately trying to ignore scampered up nudging into his heels, which was a fatal mistake. a **very **fatal mistake.

Kai, without much control whipped back and smashed his foot into the pup, his foot caught the lower jaw bone and crashed it, the puppy yelped as blood poured from it's nose and mouth, some of the teeth broken, some of the broken teeth embedded in it's tongue. Kai reels back, sweat beading on his forehead, he couldn't handle it. The headache exploded into worse pain than before, the puppy backed up frightened but also growling for it's own defense, Kai was shaking violently, he knew what was causing this but he couldn't control the movements of his body too well.

He reached out a hand towards the dog, the animal in a frightened attempt to protect itself sank it's teeth into Kai's hand. Kai screams before slamming his foot into the animal's ribcage throwing it back, the puppy yelps as it slams against the ground a few feet back, blood runs down from the deep bite mark in Kai's hand, his eyes gaining that same red glow as he felt his morality twisting, a twisted grin formed on his face, the witnessing of pain of another being seemed to be pleasing to him now. _'Do it Kai, make it pay for what it did!'_

Black Dranzer's demonic voice echoes through his head, Kai's grin widens. "Here little puppy..."

--

"Do you think Kai is alright?" Hilary fumbles with a magazine watching the window, when Kai had left he had seemed pale, distant. He looked sick, Tyson shook his head, "I'm pretty sure he has other things in mind."

Rei sighed and leaned back into the sofa, the plush pillows were soft against his lower back as his gold eyes watched the clock for a few moments, Kai seemed to be disappearing a lot more since they began this trip, not that it wasn't unusual for him but it was growing weird as he was rarely around unless at night or they were going to leave. He had mentioned something about needing air and had left earlier, in just a couple of days they'd finally reach Mexico and the tournament, Rei smiled lightly at the thought, the long ride was taking it's toll on all of them.

"Well, maybe he just needs to be alone." Rei finally responded, Max was sitting beside Kenny who was busy typing away in his lap top, it seemed from the human eye that was all Kenny ever did, but he needed to gather as much data as possible. "Yeah, he's been with us since the end of the previous tournament." Max added, it seemed only logical that Kai would want to be alone after awhile.

"Whatever, who else is looking forward to exploring Mexico?" Tyson asks, not noticing the hot headed kid approaching from behind. Daichi smirks evilly, in his hand is a blue balloon filled with whipped cream and molasses, this was going to create one sticky mess. "The only reason you'd want to explore is to see the restaurants." Tyson turns around only to be greeted in the face by the balloon. Max, Hilary and Rei wince as the balloon pops and fluffy white paste and thick black liquid explode all over Tyson and the hotel floor. Daichi cackles, green eyes showing pure amusement.

"I told you this wasn't over!" Daichi grins, but it's wiped off as Tyson uses his hands to rub the gunk from his eyes, "Or is it?" Tyson grabs up a handful of both whipped cream and molasses in his hand, Daichi yelps and tears across the room towards the kitchen as the beyblade champion rushes after him with the handful. "Get back here!" Tyson shouts throwing the handful which hits Daichi, Daichi tumbles into the cabinets long enough to see Tyson, from an upside down angle slip on the floor and fall down flat on his face. "Hah,"

Hilary rolls her eyes and sighs, reaching for the magazine that laid on the table. There wasn't really anything to do here, there was no places that bladed at all, it was like the sport didn't even exist in this city. Rei watches Daichi and Tyson in another one of their wars, it wasn't unusual for them anyway, besides at least everyone was entertained by the pranks and the antics.

_'Kai...I hope your alright...'_

Hilary thinks numbly.

--

_SMASH._

The puppy lets out another yelp as it's kicked into the alley way brutally, Kai stands in the shadows near the entrance of the alley, glowing crimson eyes narrowed, he was enjoying this obviously. The puppy growls and snarls, trying everything it could to possibly scare the Hiwatari away but to no such luck, another swift blow and the animal was thrown against the dumpster, a loud crack was heard as it's ribcage shattered, it whined and fell to the hard ground whimpering, Kai stood above it, the twisted look in his eyes. "Having fun now, mutt?"

Another swift blow and the puppy is thrown against the wall. It whimpers even more because of the pain, it can't protect itself - but it refuses to give up.

Joseph is walking down the road, he and his team decided to take separate directions and meet up in Mexico, that way they could keep an eye out for the Blade Breakers.

_'And so far, nothing.'_

Joseph sighs kicking a small pebble, though in the distance he hears the sound of thrashing and yelping, he can't help but wonder. His legs refuse to move at first but he runs forth anyway, quickening his pace with every yelp that he hears, the pained cries are growing louder than before as he runs forth, his heart thumping in his chest. The sound is unbearable, even heart breaking.

_'Oh god... what's happening...'_

The words repeat in his head as he runs forth, only to see the puppy - or what was left of the animal slam against the alley way wall before sliding down and landing on the concrete with a meaty thud. It no longer looked like an animal, but a small lump of bloodied fur and meat, but what stunned Joseph even more than seeing the grotesque sight was the one who killed the animal in the first place.

Kai Hiwatari.

Joseph is rooted to the spot, unable to will his legs to move, the dangerous look in Kai's eyes was now directed towards him, shaking he wanted to back away, fearing Kai may do to him what he just did to the defenseless creature. "U-U-Uh..."

Joseph sputters, he can't find the words, Kai stalks towards him, advancing. Joseph shudders and whimpers, terrified, and right now he wished everything in the world that Mariam, even Ozuma was here to help him.

"K-Kai..."

--

Black cloth covers his entire body as he stands upon the top of the building, violet eyes narrow - he had seen what had happened. Tala watches silent from where he stands, he knew what was happening but he wouldn't do anything about it. Bryan sits on the edge of the building scowling, he had come along since Spencer was pretty much preoccupied and Ian was too busy wanting to set a prank for someone. "Well?"

Bryan hisses, he was curious to know what was happening. "Looks like everything is falling into place."

Tala steps off the ledge and down beside his teammate, this was all apart of a plan - they were becoming like Boris, willing to destroy everything just to harm others. Those years in the abbey had infected them more than anyone could of ever known. Bryan nods, standing up and dusting the back of his pants' legs off, soon everything would be complete. But for now it would slowly sink in.

"How much longer do you think it'll take before they notice?" Bryan asks, voice stiff and emotionless as he followed his cloaked teammate across the roof of the building. "Not long." Tala smirks lightly.

"Not long at all."

--

_"Oh God, oh god, oh god..."_

Kai repeats over and over, clutching his bloodied face, tears were forming in his crimson eyes, Black Dranzer's influence had worn off for now. "I...I didn't know..." his body shook, Joseph felt his nerves tensing, still. He was nervous and who could blame him, it was like watching Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

Joseph shook slightly, "It's alright..." his voice was shaking, Crimson eyes met his own, pleading, as if saying - _PLEASE...DON'T TELL ANYONE ANYONE ABOUT THIS...PLEASE! _Joseph knew he couldn't, he felt sick to his stomach though seeing the blood everywhere. "It's alright..." Joseph repeated, trying everything to calm the Hiwatari but was failing obviously when Kai's eyes darkened.

"It's not alright! Don't you see?!" Kai practically screamed, "I killed something...Another living being!"

_'If only Ozuma was here...'_

Joseph thought shaking. "Listen...God forgives you. It...It had no soul...it wasn't..." Joseph paused, he didn't know what he was saying because none of them even believed in any other forces, but it was the only thing he could think of. "It wasn't a sin..."

Kai's eyes narrowed dangerously at this, the corners of his mouth twitching back into a twisted, insane smile. Joseph backed away.

"It's alright with you..." he whispers darkly, Black Dranzer in control again. "You weren't the one who did something like this. And you want to know why? **YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?**"

Joseph wanted to leave, he was becoming nervous.

"**IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THIS HEADACHE!**" Kai screams, his voice shattering the silence as Joseph backs away, his mind and his body are having a rather violent disagreement at that moment.

_'Run. Run and get out of here... Just run!'_

His mind and his conscience are screaming at him, Joseph turns and runs - fast as he can as his sandles thud across the road, the screams echoing in his head. Kai feels tears forming in his eyes as they broke loose and spilled down his face.

--

"There's nothing on TV," Tyson groans holding the remote, his hair was wrapped up in a towel and he was in a bath robe, the sight in general looked quite silly. "Of course not, they don't have digital cable." Rei mumbles, he wasn't complaining as he had grown up without the use of modern technology and the use of modern toys. Max shook his head, "Want to go explore now?"

Tyson dropped the remote onto the couch. "In this city? There's nothing to do and it's boring, No thank you." Max shook his head and picked up the TV guide from under one of the two remotes, "Just trying to help."

"I'm worried," Hilary spoke up, ruby eyes even showing it, the others looked in her general direction. "About what?" Max asked, Hilary glanced down, Kai had been gone a few hours and had not even given so much as a phone call or sign that he was alright. "Kai..."

Tyson shook his head, "I wouldn't worry too much about him, he's done stunts like this before." Tyson idly stares at the TV screen, on it reflected that of some random game show. "Well... he's done things like this before, but it can be safe to worry." Rei added.

Tyson's brown eyes shifted over to the neko jin, "Oh, so now your on her side now?" Rei shrugged, holding up his hands in defeat.

"I'm not on anyone's side, so let just leave it at that and not start a war." Daichi grins, "He'll start a war anyway."

"Thats enough out of you!" Tyson shouts, grabbing a pillow off the couch and flung it at Daichi, it hit him in the face.

"Mmph..Mmmph!" Daichi's voice is muffled as he quickly yanks the feather filled fabric off his face, Tyson grins. "Aww.. did the chicken get your tongue?" Rei sighed, it was better than those cat-puns that were often used.

However things were interrupted when the hotel door opened, walking in through the door way was Kai and much to his team's shock, he was covered in blood. "K-Kai!" Hilary gasped, about ready to leap up from the sofa but didn't when she saw the dangerous look in Kai's eyes.

Kai passed on by towards the rooms before only laying down on the bed, his crimson eyes sank shut before the tears came again and he choked back a small sob, the headache was fading but the guilt was not.

_'It's not alright...It never will be...I...I killed another living being...'_


	5. The Breaking Point

**Chapter Five: **The Breaking Point

_"Alright! We're almost to Mexico City, Guys!"_

Crimson eyes snap open drearily as the sound bursted any of his thoughts, they were just a few miles from the city, from the same city that tournament would be in. Kai heaves a sigh, this would be the last few moments of his life that he'd spend being a teammate before becoming the traitor. The haunting feeling of when he killed that defenseless animal was still evident in his conscience and it was killing him.

_'Curse you, Black Dranzer, Curse you!!'_

Kai thought bitterly as he stared out the cold, fogged glass. "Hey, Kai, what's wrong?" a voice cuts through him again before the sound of someone sitting down beside him, his eyes turned to see the worried ruby ones of Hilary's. Kai doesn't respond however as he just stares out the window, he wants to respond - he wants to tell everything but he knows he can't because it was bad enough of what he was going to do.

"Nothing." came the bitter, emotionless reply causing Hilary to jump slightly, the ice that was in his voice had stung badly, Hilary shook it off but didn't get up and reclined back into her seat, she knew something was wrong because she could tell just by looking at the Hiwatari, though he refused to tell anyone - even her. Hilary just sighed, ruby eyes trailing to where Kai's crimson ones rested which was on the fogged windows. "I can't believe it, we're almost there." Hilary finally said, breaking the silence once more. She had purposely brought up another subject.

But had no response.

_'Only a matter of time, Kai...'_

The demonic voice is back and this time with a sharp headache that pounds through the russian's head as he emits a sharp cry, causing his team to look towards the back and Hilary to fall back slightly stunned. "Kai! What's wrong!?" Hilary shouted this time grabbing Kai's arms, Kai feels tears forming behind his eyes but they don't come and that, he is silently thankful for. The headache is worsening along with that sadistic cackling, it's growing louder and louder and the pain is increasing even more than before. His vision is becoming blurred by the tears of pain.

_'They'll never see it coming!'_

A sadistic cackle.

_"Get out of my head...get out of my head...GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" _Kai screams uncontrollably, causing everyone to veer towards him and the bus jerk to a stop near a local gas station, tears poured down the Hiwatari's face as the pain exploded even worse than before, Hilary's screams and his team's worried chatter was becoming more far away and distant even distorted, everything was fuzzy and spinning and all he could see was black. Standing before him was the black phoenix, it's bright red eyes gleaming with mock cruelty, a shrill sadistic cackle pierced the thick air.

He was choking, he couldn't breathe. The air was choking him, everything was consumed by the overwhelming darkness. "Kai!" Hilary shouted grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him, shaking him almost like a limp ragdoll. Kai let out a tortured, terrified shriek and shoved Hilary back causing her to fall to the floor of the bus, Kai immediately leaps from his seat shoving past his teammates ignoring any yells directed at him.

_'I...have...to...get...out...of...HERE!'_

Was the only thought to run through his head as he slams open the bus door and leaps down onto the cold ground before sprinting off from view, his shadow the last thing seen before it too disappeared.

--

_'I still can't forget that look in his eyes...'_

Joseph thought numbly as he and the rest of his team walked to the city entrance, they had come back together and were heading on to Mexico City. Joseph still could not forget the look that he had seen in the Hiwatari's eyes that day, the look of hatred, of pain, of possession. The look had been haunting ever since then, the out burst, everything. Joseph shivered, he silently prayed that he would never have to face that again, it was a too close of call last time.

_'What if he had done to me... what he did to that puppy?'_

Joseph thought numbly but shook it off abruptly.

_No._

There was no 'what if' to wonder, it didn't happen and it wouldn't happen, but he still couldn't help but wonder if it could have, he glances up towards the rest of his team despite they don't even notice, Ozuma is concentrated on where they were heading, Dunga was spaced out and Mariam was just following along and then there was himself, Joseph who lagged behind the other three lost in his thoughts.

_'They wouldn't believe me if I told them.'_

Joseph mentally groaned, it was bad enough that all this was happening but even worse that he couldn't even trust his own team to believe him when he needed them the most. Though that was nothing unusual as Ozuma was straight forward on this 'mission' and did not have any time for little mishaps like that one. Though it was a painful thought to think of but he couldn't let it get in the way now.

_'I just hope we all make it out of this... alive...'_

--

"So where do we go first?" Tyson asks, giddy to get on the go, it had been an hour since Kai disappeared but now the outburst had worn off and it had sank back in that it might of been one of his old habits. Rei shrugged, casting a glance out the window as Max reaches back snagging the straps of his backpack, they were finally in their destination but too bad Kai could not see the final stopping point.

"I know where you'll head," Kenny mumbles off track as a grin crosses across Tyson's face. "You just read my mind, Chief!"

"Aw man, your not hungry again are you?" Hilary asks, exasperation in her voice as Tyson's grin precedes to grow larger, they knew what he was thinking that moment, Max of course joined in.

"**ICE CREAM!!!!!!**" Both boys shouted in unison and almost literally flew off the bus, leaving the remaining team members sitting there with either looks of confusion, no expression or a look of irritability.

"Well I guess thats three people down," Kenny mumbles, though something in the pit of his stomach told him that something wasn't right.

Outside, no one noticed the figure slinking towards the bus, crimson eyes narrowed with that eerie red glow again. "Guess who's back..."

--

"We'd like two orders of your ice cream please," Max says placing hands onto the small platform out from the order window. The cashier furrows his eyebrows in confusion, "What flavor would that be or would you prefer Fried Ice cream?"

The man's voice hid a thick mexican accent but he knew some english at least, Max and Tyson look at each other upon hearing the words of _fried ice cream_, Tyson blinks. "How do you do that? Wouldn't it melt?"

Max envisions the concoction and a green tint comes to his face, "Oh Tyson, I think I'm going to be sick..."

Tyson frowned and would of placed the order for the flavor they wanted when multiple screams tore through the air, the green tint faded a little as Tyson's head whips to the side, "The team! Come on, Max!"

Max presses a couple of fingers to his mouth feeling like he was going to vomit, "Coming Tyson..."

His body constricted and bent over, that very moment he had lost his breakfast.

--

**SLAM**.

The bus rattled violently when the black blade slammed against the bright red metal, Kenny shrieked and hid behind his laptop as if it would shield him from the thundering rattling of the bus, Hilary grabs at the seats clinging to them as the bus is gradually beginning to calm, Rei's golden eyes narrow as he reaches into his pocket, slowly withdrawing Driger.

**SMASH**.

Another hit and the remaining team is thrown across the bus, Kenny screams and curls up into a ball behind his laptop as they slam into the seats, Rei's eyes shoot open as Hilary and Daichi's screams of _"Whats Happening!?" _are heard. Rei groans and pulls himself up off the seat, from what he knew, this city didn't have a big reputation for being hit by such massive earth quakes.

"Is everyone alright!?" The cold metal doors to the drivers compartment slide open and Mr. Dickenson runs out, his small black eyes shining with worry upon seeing the team in a pile on the floor. Rei frowns, "Yeah."

"Where's Tyson and Max, and Kai?" Mr. Dickenson asks, looking around taking notice of the absence, another smash against the bus throws everyone to the back of the bus this time, whatever it was, was determined to cause the bus to collapse in on them and kill them.

"I'm going to find out who it is," Rei shouts, completely ignoring Mr. Dickenson's previous question and ran up the aisle before reaching the doors, ignoring the screams of the others he leaps off the steps with his launcher and blade at ready.

Only the scene he was met with was not what he expected at all.

--

Kai grins twistedly, the black launcher in his hand as well as the black blade, his eyes casting that eerie glow again. "Miss me?"

His voice was dark and demonic, Rei felt his jaw going slack as the others raced out to see what was happening, just a few moments before the bus tilts over crashing against the ground.

Tyson and Max can see the burst of dust and smoke in the distance and run faster towards the scene, upon arriving the smoke is thick but gradually clearing, "is anyone okay!?"

No response.

Max and Tyson weave their way through the smoke before stopping short in their tracks and what they saw was scarier than what had happened when they were first leaving Japan to get to this place, they automatically recognized the blade in his hand.

_Black Dranzer and..._

"Kai!?"


End file.
